News

Keep up to date.

Resources for Mississippi job seekers and employers.

Don’t Sabotage Your Relationship With a Recruiter!

Posted October 23rd, 2015

When it comes to working with recruiters, most candidates have a “love hate” relationship. Either you love the support that a recruiter can provide during a focused job search, or you hate the long delays and frustration of allowing someone else to advise you on your career options. However, a professional recruiter can be your best ally in finding a rewarding job, and they have incredible insight that’s only gained by being part of the job market and well connected in the community for so long.

For these reasons alone, it’s important not to say or do anything that could sabotage your relationship with a good recruiter. Some of these things can damage your reputation as a candidate and cause recruiters to shy away from you, rather than recommend you to their clients.

Falling off the Face of the Earth

No matter what, never “flake” on a recruiter. This means that you can’t ignore those emails and phone messages left for you by the recruiter. Don’t disappear or neglect to go to a planned interview. The reputation of the recruiter is on the line, so if you fall off the face of the earth you not only make yourself look bad, but the recruiter looks bad to the client. You will never get their support again because you’ve lost all respect.

Acting Completely Desperate

When communicating with recruiters, it’s best to leave any desperate behaviors and words behind. Even if you are starting to feel like you could take any job just so you can move out of your parents’ basement, you never ever want to come off this way to a recruiter. A desperate-acting candidate is a major red flag for recruiters. Desperate candidates are unpredictable and will jump ship for a better offer. A recruiter is investing in you and needs to know you are ready to take the job they spent time and resources finding for you.

Talking Negatively About Previous Employers

If you want to turn a recruiter off fast, try saying a bunch of negative stuff about your current or past employers. This shows that you are immature and unprofessional. The last thing a recruiter wants to do is place you with one of their valued clients, only to find out you are speaking poorly of them later on. And they don’t want you talking badly about them either, because the only thing a recruiter can stand on is their reputation in the industry. No candidate will stand in the way of their success.

Avoid the above behaviors and you will have a positive and productive relationship with your recruiter.